Dunn County ADRC committee stunned at news of HSHS closures in western Wisconsin
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — The Dunn County Aging and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) Committee meeting on January 22 was going along as it normally does when the ADRC manager received a news alert on her cell phone.
Tracy Fischer, manager of the Dunn County ADRC, told the committee that the Hospital Sisters Health System had just announced that Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire, St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls and all of the Prevea Clinics in western Wisconsin were closing permanently.
When Fischer relayed the news, there were audible gasps from the members of the ADRC committee and exclamations of “Oh, no!”
“This news is astounding and worrisome,” Fischer said.
The ADRC already receives many telephone calls because people cannot get the medical help they need, she said.
Unfortunately, the ADRC does not have any power to intervene and schedule appointments, Fischer said.
“This is not good news for this area,” she said.
One ADRC committee member noted that it can take four to five months to get an appointment in the Mayo Health System already.
If someone goes to the emergency room or to urgent care, that person is told to see his or her primary physician in three days, noted Larry Bjork, county board supervisor from Menomonie and chair of the ADRC committee.
“I tell them, ‘If you make the appointment, I will gladly show up,’” he said.
The Colfax Messenger/Tribune Press Reporter had that experience last summer with a skin infection. She went to urgent care and was told to follow up with a regular appointment at the clinic in five days — but it was closer to a month before an appointment was available.
Crisis situations
One ADRC committee member noted that the Bridge to Hope sends sexual assault victims to Sacred Heart Hospital.
That is where the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE nurses) are located, Fischer said.
West Central Wisconsin is closer to Minneapolis than to Madison, so it would be helpful if more mental health crisis services could be accessed in Minnesota, said one ADRC committee member.
When someone is in a crisis situation, making transfers across state lines is legally very difficult, Fischer said.
Working out some kind of an agreement with Minnesota for those situations is something that the state Legislature should be working on, she said.
Larry Bjork, county board supervisor from Menomonie and chair of the ADRC committee, noted that the Dunn County Board is holding the annual meeting with area state Legislators about local topics of legislative concern on February 21, and that the closing of the HSHS hospitals and clinics should be part of the discussion with the Legislators.
The ADRC already receives many questions about access to health care, so with the closing of the HSHS hospitals and clinics, those kinds of problems with access to health care are likely to increase, Fischer said.
Closures
Sacred Heart Hospital, St. Joseph Hospital and the clinics are scheduled to be closed by April 21.
The clinics include Prevea Altoona Medical Office Building; Prevea Augusta Health Center; Prevea at HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital; Prevea Chippewa Falls Health Center; Prevea Chippewa Falls Medical Services Building; Prevea Cornell Health Center; Prevea at HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital; Prevea Behavioral Care in Eau Claire; Prevea Therapy in Eau Claire; Prevea Clairemont Health Center; Prevea Ladysmith Health Center; Prevea Therapy in Ladysmith; Prevea Menomonie Health Center; Prevea Mondovi Health Center; Prevea Rice Lake Health Center; Prevea Augusta Family Medicine Residency and Prevea Eau Claire Family Medicine Residency.
The residency programs are expected to be closed by June 30.
The L.E. Phillips Libertas Center in Chippewa Falls for the treatment of alcoholism also is closing.
Difficult decision
According to a news release on the HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital website dated January 22:
“Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS), a faith-based health system with operations in Illinois and Wisconsin, announced today that, after thoughtful consideration and thorough discernment, the system will close HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire and HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls as part of a complete exit from the Western Wisconsin region. Prevea Health, a physician network offering primary and specialty care, will also close all of its locations across Western Wisconsin’s Chippewa Valley.
“HSHS and Prevea have initiated a thorough and organized process to safely wind-down services and to transition patient care to other providers. The majority of the closures are expected to be complete on or before April 21, 2024, with the exception of the Prevea residency clinics that will close on or before June 30, 2024. HSHS and Prevea locations outside of Western Wisconsin’s Chippewa Valley region are unaffected and operating as usual.
“This difficult decision comes after prolonged operational and financial stress related to lingering impacts of the pandemic, inflation, workforce constraints, local market challenges and other industry-wide trends.”
“While HSHS and Prevea intended to create an integrated health delivery model in Western Wisconsin in 2015, our operations in the region have struggled for the past several years due to a mismatch in the supply of and demand for local health care services,” said Damond Boatwright, President and CEO of HSHS. “We closely considered all other options and sought strategic alternatives. After an agreement with a suitable partner did not work out, it was determined that exiting the market is the only feasible path forward.”
“According to the American Hospital Association, there were 136 rural hospital closures from 2010 to 2021 as well as a record 19 closures in 2020 alone. More than 600 rural hospitals — 30 percent of all rural hospitals in the country — are at risk of closing, according to the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, because they do not have adequate revenue to cover the cost of the care provided.”
According to the news release, the closures will affect approximately 1,082 HSHS employees and 325 Prevea employees.
All of the healthcare workers will receive support services and career transition assistance, which includes the possibility of obtaining positions elsewhere in the HSHS organizations, if positions are available.
HSHS Sacred Heart and HSHS St. Joseph’s have been “treasured ministries” of the Hospital Sisters for more than 140 years, according to the news release.
